What do you think?
Rate this book
Rock Tease: The Golden Years of Rock T-Shirts
Hip, sexy, and rock 'n' roll, Rock Tease is a comprehensive survey of the greatest rock T-shirts over the past three decades. Featuring photographs of around 200 shirts, this collection details the history of rock shirts from early bootlegs and DIY to designer and collectibles to the newly licensed shirts seen in fashion magazines and on celebrities everywhere. Rock Tease also features celebrity interviews on the topic, from Wayne Kramer of the MC5 to leader of the Blank Generation, Richard Hell, and art director for the Ramones, Arturo Vega.
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
30 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 24, 2011
I bought this book mainly because it was on super-sale at Half-Price Books (i.e., less than half price!) in Seattle and because I collect vintage heavy metal tees. It seemed like a reasonable addition to my metal library. Interestingly, one of the co-authors (Chalfa) is owner of Red Light Vintage, a Pacific Northwest-specific vintage chainlet. I've been to the ones in Capitol Hill and the U District (Seattle) and to one of the ones in Portland. Most of their vintage-wear is of limited interest to me (lots of overpriced dresses from the 60s), but they always have lots of vintage rock tees.
Considering this dude wrote a book on tees (and claims his own collection is worth $30K), Red Light doesn't do amazing with the pricing, or even with ID'ing them -- I once spotted a Hot Topic repro Ozzy Blizzard of Ozz shirt hanging on their wall for $75. That said, sometimes one can get a deal there (or at least, something of a deal). One of my biggest regrets is not getting a Great White "Mistabone" shirt there that was on clearance for $12. On this particular trip, I bought a Slaughter The Wild Life tee for $12 and, after much agonizing, a Motley Crue 1985 Theatre of Pain Alister Fiend tour tee for $75. That is BY FAR the most I've ever paid for one of these, but this was the rare case where Red Light had actually undervalued something -- I've never seen a Crue shirt from that era for under $150. Considering that the last shirt I'd bought before that was an extremely undervalued Iron Maiden 1982 tour tee (which I bought for $36, and which turns out to have a market value between $500-1,000), I decided it was okay to splurge.
Okay, so this has turned into a review of my shopping haunts and habits. One last comment though -- I have always been SO perplexed where Red Light gets their shirts from. For all my bitching about this dude, he must have some amazing sources that are definitely not eBay -- good luck finding reasonably priced shirts on eBay, those people all think they can get $150-400 no matter how crappy or common their shirts are. But seriously -- I found the Crue shirt I wound up buying in a pile that included a Europe tee (The Final Countdown, very overpriced at $80), a W.A.S.P. Electric Circus tee (overpriced at $60, that album sucks), an earlier W.A.S.P. tee (1984-ish and priced at I think $65 -- my 1984 W.A.S.P. tee is a better one and I paid $15 for it), and at least one other. And that was just like, what they'd gotten in that day. They also had Poison, Stryper, a Crue Dr. Feelgood tee... I mean this place is just crawling with metal tees.
ANYWAY. This book is just okay. I often get the impression that while the authors know a decent amount about t-shirts (they talk about how sizing changed over time, as well as fabric weight), they know very, very little about the bands. They frequently misidentify what's album art vs. what isn't, and what types of iconography can be considered "attributes" of various bands. Also, if you're talking about peering at something, it's "peek", not "peak." That said, for $3, it's a cute book and obviously very up my alley, interests-wise.
Oh, and if you're wondering -- does my extensive collection include any of the shirts in the book? Why yes, it does! On p. 114, I have the RATT Out of the Cellar 1984 tour tee (gift from a friend, purchased in either Vegas or Arizona, I can't remember which). On p. 135, I have that Great White tee (yes, after turning down the one, I hunted down another older one). Mine is in better condition, still has its sleeves, and says "Ofishal tour shirt" at the bottom (with "fish" in a different color) rather than "Finally a tour". On p. 139, I have that Megadeth shirt, purchased by a friend of mine at an LA flea market (the authors aren't too stoked on this shirt, but it's one of my favorites -- very thin fabric, but the printing has held up amazingly). And on p. 148, I have that Queensryche Operation Mindcrime tee -- also a gift from that same friend as the other two. Snap, I should call him and thank him!
Considering this dude wrote a book on tees (and claims his own collection is worth $30K), Red Light doesn't do amazing with the pricing, or even with ID'ing them -- I once spotted a Hot Topic repro Ozzy Blizzard of Ozz shirt hanging on their wall for $75. That said, sometimes one can get a deal there (or at least, something of a deal). One of my biggest regrets is not getting a Great White "Mistabone" shirt there that was on clearance for $12. On this particular trip, I bought a Slaughter The Wild Life tee for $12 and, after much agonizing, a Motley Crue 1985 Theatre of Pain Alister Fiend tour tee for $75. That is BY FAR the most I've ever paid for one of these, but this was the rare case where Red Light had actually undervalued something -- I've never seen a Crue shirt from that era for under $150. Considering that the last shirt I'd bought before that was an extremely undervalued Iron Maiden 1982 tour tee (which I bought for $36, and which turns out to have a market value between $500-1,000), I decided it was okay to splurge.
Okay, so this has turned into a review of my shopping haunts and habits. One last comment though -- I have always been SO perplexed where Red Light gets their shirts from. For all my bitching about this dude, he must have some amazing sources that are definitely not eBay -- good luck finding reasonably priced shirts on eBay, those people all think they can get $150-400 no matter how crappy or common their shirts are. But seriously -- I found the Crue shirt I wound up buying in a pile that included a Europe tee (The Final Countdown, very overpriced at $80), a W.A.S.P. Electric Circus tee (overpriced at $60, that album sucks), an earlier W.A.S.P. tee (1984-ish and priced at I think $65 -- my 1984 W.A.S.P. tee is a better one and I paid $15 for it), and at least one other. And that was just like, what they'd gotten in that day. They also had Poison, Stryper, a Crue Dr. Feelgood tee... I mean this place is just crawling with metal tees.
ANYWAY. This book is just okay. I often get the impression that while the authors know a decent amount about t-shirts (they talk about how sizing changed over time, as well as fabric weight), they know very, very little about the bands. They frequently misidentify what's album art vs. what isn't, and what types of iconography can be considered "attributes" of various bands. Also, if you're talking about peering at something, it's "peek", not "peak." That said, for $3, it's a cute book and obviously very up my alley, interests-wise.
Oh, and if you're wondering -- does my extensive collection include any of the shirts in the book? Why yes, it does! On p. 114, I have the RATT Out of the Cellar 1984 tour tee (gift from a friend, purchased in either Vegas or Arizona, I can't remember which). On p. 135, I have that Great White tee (yes, after turning down the one, I hunted down another older one). Mine is in better condition, still has its sleeves, and says "Ofishal tour shirt" at the bottom (with "fish" in a different color) rather than "Finally a tour". On p. 139, I have that Megadeth shirt, purchased by a friend of mine at an LA flea market (the authors aren't too stoked on this shirt, but it's one of my favorites -- very thin fabric, but the printing has held up amazingly). And on p. 148, I have that Queensryche Operation Mindcrime tee -- also a gift from that same friend as the other two. Snap, I should call him and thank him!
February 2, 2019
“Rock Tease: The Golden Years of Rock T-Shirts” tratta un argomento magari solitamente mai messo in primo piano: le magliette dei gruppi.
Un excursus dal 1970 al 1995, tante foto (bellissime, anche di magliette bootleg) e un po’ di spiegazioni storiche, tecniche, artistiche e sociali scritte spesso in modo brillante. Curiosità perlopiù ma è bello così (una su tutte: la prima maglietta del genere è stata fatta da un fan club di Elvis).
Secondo gli autori il periodo di massimo splendore è stato negli anni 80 quando la qualità di stampa aveva raggiunto il massimo, venivano usato parecchi colori e le magliette mostravano un design un lato artistico molto sviluppato. Gli anni ’90, con le magliette più sobrie e spesso con il solo logo hanno decretato la fine del fenomeno. Non sono d’accordo (per me "magliette anni 80 = pacchianata" e ciò viene confermato dalle foto) ma dal punto di vista di un appassionato del genere ci può stare (sapevate che c’è un mercato fiorente di collezionisti di magliette vintage?).
Interessanti i 4 contributi extra: Richard Hell (e le sue magliette autoprodotte), Arturo Vega (l’uomo dietro al logo dei Ramones e non solo), Mark Arm, Wayne Kramer (e lo “scandalo” della ristampa delle magliette Mc5 da parte della Levi’s nella prima metà degli anni zero).
Insomma, un lato diverso (e che tutti tocchiamo con mano) di quello che è una grande storia del rock.
Un excursus dal 1970 al 1995, tante foto (bellissime, anche di magliette bootleg) e un po’ di spiegazioni storiche, tecniche, artistiche e sociali scritte spesso in modo brillante. Curiosità perlopiù ma è bello così (una su tutte: la prima maglietta del genere è stata fatta da un fan club di Elvis).
Secondo gli autori il periodo di massimo splendore è stato negli anni 80 quando la qualità di stampa aveva raggiunto il massimo, venivano usato parecchi colori e le magliette mostravano un design un lato artistico molto sviluppato. Gli anni ’90, con le magliette più sobrie e spesso con il solo logo hanno decretato la fine del fenomeno. Non sono d’accordo (per me "magliette anni 80 = pacchianata" e ciò viene confermato dalle foto) ma dal punto di vista di un appassionato del genere ci può stare (sapevate che c’è un mercato fiorente di collezionisti di magliette vintage?).
Interessanti i 4 contributi extra: Richard Hell (e le sue magliette autoprodotte), Arturo Vega (l’uomo dietro al logo dei Ramones e non solo), Mark Arm, Wayne Kramer (e lo “scandalo” della ristampa delle magliette Mc5 da parte della Levi’s nella prima metà degli anni zero).
Insomma, un lato diverso (e che tutti tocchiamo con mano) di quello che è una grande storia del rock.
June 1, 2014
This was a very quick read (less than an hour) but it was fun to see the older desugns. The best part was the interview with Mark Arm from Mudhoney. I was a bit disappointed in how many bootleg shirts were included.
August 17, 2011
i'd rather be wearing them than looking at them
December 3, 2011
Nice bit of research, doesn't really tickle my imagination.
June 17, 2013
This was a great book and would be a great TV documentary as well.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews